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France

The Alps

The French Alps have long been a favourite holiday destination for British visitors. The grandeur of arguably one of the most beautiful mountain ranges on earth draws hundreds of thousands of skiers and alpiners to its lofty peaks each year. Even if you skied there every winter for the rest of your life you could not hope to discover all of its secrets.

From the picturesque rustic alpine hamlets to the mighty Chamonix the choices laid out for you are vast. There are more than one hundred fantastically groomed resorts. France is very safety conscious; the trails are all graded from easy greens, to blues, then reds with black being only for the very experienced.

They are all meticulously checked to prevent injury and the ski-instructors are of an incredibly high standard. It is perfect beginner ski and intermediate territory with some formidable off-piste.

At A Glance

  • Great for all levels of skiiers and snowboarders!
  • Great lift serviced off-piste for all levels (guides available)
  • Lots of good quality bars, nightclubs and shopping
  • Charming Alpine villages
  • Large Ski Areas
  • Tasteful village atmosphere in the resort centre
  • More to do than just ski!

Resorts in France

Meribel

France

Méribel is a firm favourite for British skiers and boarders looking for an extensive choice of ski slopes and variety for all levels. With 600 kms of pisted trails it’s a vast ski area, (one of the largest), and further extended with so many great off-piste itineraries. Its chalet-style architecture and picturesque slopes are just icing on the cake for this world-renowned ski resort that combines the three greats: Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens for high class, high altitude snow sure skiing that make up Les Trois Vallees.
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Morzine

France

The largest linked ski area in Europe

Morzine-Avoriaz is part of the Portes du Soleil - the largest linked ski area in Europe. It covers 12 ski resorts (all on the same lift pass) and you can tour around them all in a day, but get ready for an adventure as you’ll cover 78 Kms of piste. Aside from being one of the prettiest resorts in the Alps, it’s also one of the liveliest and has year-round appeal with more than 100 cafes, bars, restaurants and apres-ski hideouts with some of the best gastro in the Alps. It has lots of charm and chalet-style architecture with no highrise blocks, so you’ll love the feel of it.

It offers a huge range of skiing spanning over into Switzerland; and with so many pistes, it’s a resort that will keep turning up undiscovered runs the whole week long! It’s also the most northern resort in the French Alps - and is directly linked with Avoriaz - thus enjoying an excellent snow record for a comparatively moderate altitude. In other words, you don't need to be so high to get good snow!

There’s also heaps to do off the slopes, so if you’re a non-skier or up for some alternative activities, then try snowshoe walks on dedicated trails, mountain bike rides (even in winter), ice diving, swimming, climbing, parapenting, husky rides, devil karts, skidoos and much more.

And just fifty miles from Geneva, Morzine-Avoriaz is so easily accessible it has become a favourite from the UK.

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La Plagne

France

France’s 4th largest ski area & a true all-rounder

Being dubbed by developers as the next ‘Val d'Isère’ La Plagne is part of the vast Paradiski (connected directly to Les Arcs) and provides an incredible high altitude playground with unrivalled variety for all levels. It comprises ten ski villages with snow-sure slopes from nursery to Black and it’s not only a mecca for experts and intermediates, but just as popular with families as the true all-rounder ski resort.

La Plagne and the Paradiski make France’s 4th largest ski area with 11 ski villages to choose from. Our chalets are located in Plagne Villages and 1800, which we consider to have the best mix of entertainment and exclusivity for our guests.

Visit Plagne 1800 or Belle Plagne for the prettiest ‘ski resort’ feel and the right amount of shops and bars to keep you entertained but not overwhelmed.

Visit Plagne Centre for nightlife and shops and a more high-rise feel.

Visit Plagne Villages to be right on the slopes in the highest location with a smaller selection of shops and bars - but a connection to Plagne Centre until midnight (via the Telebus lift) and still enough on the doorstep to make apres-ski fun!

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La Tania

France

Quieter, Gentler with Superb Skiing!

With a prestigious 3 Valleys location, La Tania is sandwiched between Courchevel and Meribel in the heart of one of Europe's largest and finest ski areas (600+kms of piste!). It offers skiers the ultimate in choice with route 1 access to the best of the 3 valleys at their fingertips. With an altitude up to 3,200m and over 2,000 snow cannons, Les Trois Vallees will guarantee superb snow all season. La Tania further benefits with all its slopes being north facing, and will hold its snow until very late in April. The ski area is known for having some of the best snow conditions in the whole of the Alps!
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Val DIsere

France

Experts and Kids Love Val d'Isère!

This leading location is not only for the experienced – children and beginners love it too! There are Beginner and Intermediate friendly Green and Red slopes across the area but with 300km of free-riding, steep descents, and plentiful powder, the more advanced can cover plenty of ground, motorway ‘cruising’ or carving down the Boardercross course series of banked corners and humps. Snowboarding in Val d’Isère is quite highly regarded. Le Fornet is absolutely magical in the powder and offers clean and open powder fields from high up on the glacier. In the main town, Val d’Isère offers boutique shopping and a vibrant café culture. After a cool day on the slopes, things start to hot up with an early après ski kick off about 4pm in over 50 bars and restaurants. Set in southeastern France just 5km from the Italian border, you can expect some excellent Italian cuisine and French fusion food.
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Tignes

France

Europe’s leading high altitude ski area

Famous for its high altitude and summer glacier skiing with a snow record most other resorts can only dream of, Tignes coolly and comfortably rivals the world’s best ski and board destinations and is made up of 4 villages. It’s got glacier skiing all the way up to 3,520m on the Grande Motte, and long, wide slopes to suit every ability. Try its famous (and long) tree-lined runs down into Les Brévières (where our Hotel Tetras Lodge is), excellent snow quality on the glacier and blues and reds to test your technique.

Tignes les Brévières 1550
We have a 4* boutique hotel, the Tetras Lodge (which is exclusive to us), in the centre of Tignes Les Brévières, the original ‘old town’ of Tignes. Brev’ is fast becoming one of France’s most desirable ski villages as it enjoys doorstep access to the very best high altitude, snow-sure slopes in the Alps; but from a pretty, chalet-style village. It suits those who prefer a quieter, more exclusive setting to the hustle and bustle of Tignes Le Lac - yet still want the best skiing at their fingertips. And don't forget the incredible La Sache run which is located at the top of Brévières and is one of the most famous descents in Tignes and Val d'Isère.

Tignes le Lac 2100
Our chalets are in Tignes Le Lac and Lavachey at 2100m. They are all situated very close to the ski slopes and nurseries of the Pacquis and Chaudanne chair lifts, so beginners can get to ski-for-free and everyone else can get Route One access to the best ski slopes without having to walk very far.

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Choosing Your Resort

Choosing your resort can seem a bit of a minefield, although the traditional alpine working villages are very charming they weren't designed with the skier in mind. Purpose built resorts may not be so pretty but you will find everything at your fingertips with the majority of hotels and chalets ski-to-door.

If the kids are coming too, try and stay near the nursery slopes to escape those long arduous walks in ski boots. France is a very family ski friendly country, they are always welcome in restaurants whatever the time and the lift handlers will stop the lift if necessary for children to hop on with ease.

Information about the Resort

Morzine-Avoriaz is a brilliant all-rounder and also is part of the mammoth Portes des Soleil ski area which covers 400 square miles providing 650km of marked runs and limitless off-piste.

Avoriaz is also known as the snowboarding capital of the Alps and is also home to The Wall, a severely steep mogulled black run that will give you serious bragging rights in the bar later.

France has linked its resorts very well and you will find even the smallest resorts are still part of large ski areas.

The other two giant areas belong to Les Arcs and La Plagne which join to provide 425 km aptly named Paradiski and the world renowned Les Trois Vallees that unites, among others, Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens with 600km of piste.

When the winter season ends many people still head to the mountains for the unreal experience of glacier skiing in glorious sunshine. Tignes, Chamonix and Les Deux Alpes hold regular free-style competitions all summer long at their snow parks perched high on the mountainside.

Apres Ski

Apres-ski in France is wild; the cosmopolitan mix of visitors each year wanting to let their hair down contributes to a vibrant, lively atmosphere.

Have a couple of vin chaud (mulled wine) on your way back down where you'll find an eclectic choice of live music and energetic hoards of skiers and boarders dancing on tables quaffing down restorative beverages.

Even non-skiers will have heard of the infamous Dicks Tea Bar in Val d'Isere. Other top resorts for apres-ski include Chamonix, Morzine and Meribel.

About the Alps

Of course, the Alps weren't always the target of ski and snowboard fanatics. Before tourism was introduced to the peasant farmers of the mountains, the meadows were filled with livestock which was tended to see the locals through the hard winter months. Obviously when they realised how much money could be tapped from affluent skiers then it was down with the pitch-forks and up with the skis! Lift systems sprang up to link rapidly expanding ski areas.

The shepherd's cabins became mountain restaurants and enterprising wives converted their front rooms into bars and cafes. The traditional fare still influences the resorts restaurants today, potatoes, cheese, onions and pork seem to be the base for many of their dishes such as Tartiflette, Salade Savoyarde, Fondue Savoyarde, Raclette and Brasserade. It's not much fun if you're not a cheese fan as the smell of the local Reblochon cheese does tend to permeate most restaurants.

Ski Extras

Unless you own your own skis or boards, then you’re going to need to rent some!

Fortunately, the standard of rental skis is very good nowadays and we work with the best suppliers so your kit will be perfectly suited and set up for your skiing and you can go back and make changes as needed.

Our shops are also conveniently located to our properties, so you won’t waste time traipsing over resort looking for your shop. We can also help fast track our guests in busy periods, and use our influence to help you get sorted.

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